Wind Energy Services Provider Adds RFID to Tools

A combination of UHF and HF RFID tags is helping SSC Wind to reduce the incidence of lost equipment at its job sites from 75 percent to 2 percent, and to ensure that recalibration is performed on time.

German energy technology company SSC Wind is using passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) and high-frequency (HF) RFID tags, in combination with GPS technology, to manage tools and equipment stored within containers and service vehicles on its job sites. In so doing, the company can better account for the tools and ensure their return at day's end, thereby saving the cost of searching for or replacing them. The solution was supplied by track-and-trace systems provider DHL-MyIDentification, with RFID tags attached to tools that were provided predominantly by assembly and fastening materials maker Würth.

SSC Wind first deployed the solution in 2014 as a pilot involving 1,000 pieces of equipment and 600 tools stored in a single container and one vehicle at a lone site. This year, the company is deploying RFID-tagged items at each of its energy projects throughout Europe—a total of about 20 different locations.

DHL-MyIdentification attached a DHL-MyID MasterTag passive HF RFID tag to each tool, and then used an RFID reader to upload the tag's ID number to the DHL-MyID Inside software and link it to information about that asset.

For the past 14 years, SSC Wind has been providing operations and maintenance support at various European wind farms. In this capacity, the company has built and now maintains 1,300 wind turbines, both onshore and offshore.

At each project, the firm sends a team of workers who use wrenches, pliers, slings, harnesses and other equipment, all stored onsite within vehicles or trailers. The teams are expected to focus on maintenance tasks, but are often distracted by the need to locate equipment. Losing tools can be costly. The company also needs to track the use of tools to be sure they are properly calibrated and certified.

SSC Wind had been seeking a cost-effective way to simplify the tasks of technicians, electricians and supervisors. To that end, it launched a project known as "Partnership…The Next Generation," which DHL-MyIdentification delivered in order to enable the automatic tracking and tracing of tools and equipment.